One doesn’t usually associate Italians with restraint,
but in this enchanting movie from 2008 that I have just come across, they are
just exactly that in the telling of this wee drama about surviving a death in a
family.
In a bizarre coincidence when Pietro returns from the
beach with his brother after they have rescued two women from drowning, he
discovers his wife has had a fatal fall.
He is left totally confused and now alone to be a single parent to their 10-year-old daughter
Claudia. He is not a man able to
outwardly deal with his grief, and is convinced that Claudia has inherited the
same trait as she behaves unnaturally normal.
When Pietro takes his daughter to school when the new
term starts he tells her that he will stay outside the whole day so that
she can know that he will be close at hand at all time. And he does stay .. and the next day ... and
the next .... until it evolves into his daily routine and he becomes a regular fixture in
the small park right outside the school.
Pietro is a Television Executive and his company is in
the midst of rather a rancorous merger so it suits him, and the Company, that he
stays away from work for the time being.
As the days stretch into weeks and word spreads about his presence
outside the school it provokes an outpouring of both admiration and sympathy
for his situation. As the Merger heats
up at work, various colleagues come to seek his support and advice on how they should
proceed, and despite his great loss (or because of it) he is the one who is calm
and clearheaded about their turmoil.
Others come to seek him out including his melodramatic
sister in law who hints of a shared past …. and also the striking blonde
mistress of his possible future employer, who it turns out, was the woman he
saved from drowning. She repays him in a
very graphic way that reminds you very succinctly that this is after an adult
Italian movie.
It is a gentle thoughtful movie that carries no deep
or profound message but beautifully deals with an emotional and difficult subject in a very mature manner. No spoilers, so
I will simply add that the end works out well, if not slightly surprising.
Extremely well written with a great cast including a
very unexpected cameo, and rather a joy to watch. Thanks for suggesting it Netflix.
★★★★★★★★
